Mythbusters: Millennials and Their Finances

Millennials are uninterested in their financial futures. Right? Wrong.

According to a recent survey from iQuantifi, a virtual financial advisor, found that millennials actually think about the future of their finances. Where they come up short? Having a comprehensive financial plan.

iQuantifi, found that while almost three quarters (72%) set financial goals, very few (20%) have a plan to achieve those goals.

While most millennials ages 21-34 seek financial advice from a family member or friend, only about a quarter of them said they have sought advice from a professional, such as a traditional financial adviser.

“Millennials recognize that setting financial goals is important, but they’re grasping for ways to reach those goals because they don’t have a comprehensive plan,” said Tom White, iQuantifi’s CEO and Co-Founder. “There is untapped demand for virtual financial advisers to help millennials set and achieve goals. This presents a tremendous opportunity for banks, credit unions and other institutions to attract and retain millennials by offering goal-based planning services online.”

Below are some key highlights from the survey. Tell us, how does this change your approach to millennials?

Comments

FI’s need to be in a position to offer the products and solutions to capture and deepen relationships from what will be future high network members.
Credit Unions are in a pivotal place to create these relationships by relating the community centric approach this segment has and resonates with.

Agreed! Many surveys have concluded that establishing a relationship early in the financial lifecycle will reap long-term benefits in customer loyalty and profitability as their financial lives become more complex. You are at the perfect position to advise and foster relationships with this critical segment at the time when they need it most.

This data is interesting. We are a community bank and it is challenging to find the right balance of offering new and exciting technology while not leaving our older customer base in the dust. This balance is important, though, and will be the transitioning force in keeping our younger clients engaged.

Surprising to us is how many millineals tell us that they still want a branch close to where they live or go to school and having ATMs available are key factors for their decision. This is not unlike many of the other demographics.

A lot of our customer loyalty surveys show the millennials still want to bank in a branch when necessary. They also predominantly want financial freedom like we all do but lack the patience to sit down with someone. I run across the younger generation frequently and have asked if they use our FinanceWorks or any other financial management tool. The answer is always no due to them NEVER using a computer these days. If it is not a mobile app and a great/simple mobile app you will never reach them.

The data presented from the survey indicates that we, financial institutions, really need to look at offerings for savings and investments that incent the millennial. And we need to continue financial literacy efforts starting in K-12.

Millennials are our members of the future, let’s face it without them in about another 20+ years we have a problem on our hands. We need to think like the technology saavy individuals they are and speak to them as a financial advisor. I also have seen research that millennials don’t trust financial institutions as a result of the mortgage collapse, they watched their parents struggle financial and are looking for better ways to invest their money. It’s a catch 22, they want a financial institution that is near their location, but they don’t want to go inside it to speak to someone.

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